Posts Tagged: exercise

Holidays — Comments Off
3
May 11

The Holiday Exercise Challenge

Here we are, embarking on the holiday season, again. As you plan for the family gatherings and parties, you may also be starting to stress about what you抮e going to do about the temptation to eat all those holiday goodies.

But there is something else at play here: For many people, the holiday season is a stressful and depressing time. Stressful because they抮e lonely, stressful because they may start to think about what they are not accomplishing in their lives. Stressful because they have a growing to-do list. That stress can lead to holiday depression. Combine increased depression with increased occasions to overeat and the result is the average weight gain of 5-7 pounds we all hear about each year.

This would be the usual article on avoiding that holiday weight gain if I just gave you tips. However, if you do suffer from overeating and depression and stress during the holidays, I抎 like to pose a new proposition to you in this article. I challenge you to not worry about your eating; you抮e going to eat what you want, anyway. My challenge to you is to get some form of exercise in every single day between now and January 1.

You抳e just read the above challenge and are now laughing. But, can you seriously think of a reason why not?? Oh yea, everyone can give thousands of 慹xcuses?why they can抰 fit exercise into their lives. I hear it all the time! First of all, if you are over 40 and have any health conditions, first consult with your physician. Second of all, put on your walking shoes and start walking. You can start at the mall! Wow; exercise and shopping at the same time! Imagine if you started now, before the holiday rush! Just 10 minutes per day for people who have not been doing any exercise can be a huge improvement. Or, if you have a membership to a health club and they抳e been just collecting your payments, and the staff doesn抰 know you, brush that membership off and check out that gym! If you work, I bet you anything they are open before your work hours. If you have kids and a spouse, let the spouse take care of the kids while you run to the gym. Right now, just 10-20 minutes on a treadmill or stationary bike will be enough. Break a sweat. If you have exercise equipment at home, time to put away all the clothes and boxes that it抯 hidden under and see if it still works.

As you get into your second week, I then challenge you to pick it up a notch. If you were walking 10 minutes each day, I challenge you to add a second 10 minutes to your exercise. Yes, now we can actually call it exercise. Why not? Imagine what you抮e going to look like and feel like by the New Year! Let that motivate you. Every single person can find 10 minutes here and there in their day. Do you sit down and watch television at any time? What about the time you spend on the computer? If you抮e reading this article, I bet you抳e spend spent more than 10 minutes at the computer, total, already. Turn off your computer, get up, put those shoes on, and walk outside. Take your watch. Walk away five minutes, then turn around and walk back for 5 minutes. Or, even easier if you have a treadmill sitting next to your TV. There is no greater escape than turning a fun, mindless TV show on and walking for 10-30 minutes. My favorite shows are the travel shows. I spend 30 minutes on my elliptical trainer while watching the secret get-aways in Hawaii for very little expense.

If you read this article in the middle of November, and December is almost upon you, you have now been exercising for at least three weeks. The parties have heated up and the stress of what the families are going to do or where you抮e going to hold the business party is starting to weigh on your mind. Go sweat to relieve some of that stress. Maybe you抮e really starting to feel alone and lonely. Take a walk and enjoy the sights and sounds around you. Get a walkman or iPod and listen to some soothing music while doing your exercise. But sweat out that stress and depression. Research does show that it really helps by increasing endorphins in the brain.

Then the middle of December is upon you. The parties are really hot and heavy now. You look at that yummy piece of chocolate brownie, but because you have been doing SO well with your exercise, remarkably that brownie just doesn抰 seem worth it, now! There you go; the ultimate reward. Health. Health, Wealth and Wisdom, actually. Congratulations on the new you, and what a way to start the New Year!

Holidays — Comments Off
25
Feb 11

How To Stop Gaining Weight During The Holidays – 5 Tips

With the Holiday season fast approaching, you may have concerns about keeping those extra pounds at bay. It seems that even though the holidays themselves are only a few actual days, food is in abundance from Thanksgiving through New Year’s, and temptation can be overwhelming. The following tips can help you survive the season with minimal damage.

Keep the focus on family and friends

All too often, the emphasis is on the food rather than spending time with those we love. If you try to keep the focus on family and friends, this can help you shift mental gears and see the food as secondary. Yes, many people have food traditions that make the holidays special, but this is usually only a dish or two. However, when you think about it, is it really the food that makes the holiday, or the memories that the food invokes? Go ahead and make you favorite holiday dishes, but keep portions a reasonable size and focus on the time together. Also, try to avoid the feeling that you have to stuff yourself on your favorite holiday meals because you won’t have the opportunity for another year. This type of “all or nothing” thinking can make you act in ways you might not otherwise.

Eat Only Until You’re Full

We’ve all heard this one before, but it bears repeating because it is so easy to overeat during the holidays. This includes not only the actual days, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, but also in between. This is a season of leftovers, and tasty ones at that, which can make overeating easy. Because the holidays involve a lot of parties, conversation, and occasional drinking, it can be very easy to get distracted by the mood and “forget” that you’re on your third cream puff. Make a conscious effort to monitor your level of fullness and stop when you start feeling full. This can be easier said than done, but the extra effort can be worth it. Are the few moments of gratification worth the many hours afterward feeling miserable? In the moment, yes, which is why it takes a conscious effort to monitor intake.

Choose Your Parties Wisely

While it’s tempting to accept every invitation, consider the long-term effects. Do you really need to attend every party that comes your way? Not necessarily. Yes, parties are great fun, but they are also an area where temptation is great and willpower is low. As your holiday invitations come rolling in, consider the ones that are important. The office party, for example, may be one that you need to attend to stay in good graces with the boss; the party hosted by a co-worker that you barely know can probably be skipped. It can be hard enough avoiding all the goodies that people bring to the office and well-meaning friends give for gifts; adding extra social gatherings only makes it harder to say no or to limit your intake.

Focus on Your Long Term Goals

When you think about it, the holiday season is relatively short, even though it feels like it’s a few months straight of nothing but eating. However, if you break it down, there’s a manageable lull between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and even between Christmas and New Years. As you navigate the actual holiday days and your chosen parties, keep your long-term goals at the forefront of your mind. Yes, the holiday treats are tasty and tempting. Think of the little ways you can enjoy the holidays and still keep the bigger picture in mind. As you reach for that second helping, ask yourself if the short-term satisfaction is worth the long-term costs.

Keep your confidence up!

During the holiday season, with so much going on, it’s very easy to throw your good eating habits and diet plans out the window for two months. Sweets and baked goods are constantly available, and it may just seem like too much to try to keep to your eating plans. However, throwing in the towel simply sets you up for failure. If you believe that it’s pointless to try to eat well, then you probably will see those extra pounds creep on. Remind yourself that, with a little bit of planning, it is possible to make it through the season with minimal damage, but you do need a bit of confidence in yourself.

pregnancy — Comments Off
7
Mar 10

Pregnancy Exercises – Tai Chi

Every morning as you make your way to work, you pass a group of people standing in one place and moving their limbs in slow movement. How is that exercise, you wonder, since nothing vigorous is happening? However, that is exactly how Tai Chi, or ‘Supreme Ultimate Force’ as the Chinese characters translate, works.

What is Tai Chi?

Tai Chi can be described as a moving form of yoga combined with mediation. Even though many of the movements, known as forms or sets, have roots in martial arts, they are performed slowly, softly and gracefully. In the midst of much speculation of its origin, Tai Chi is said to have begun in the 12th century with the legendary Chang San-Feng.

Tai Chi theory and practice evolved with many of the principles of Chinese philosophy, including both Taoism and Confucianism.

“Stay sung (relax). When practicing the form you must keep relaxed. In time you will find that it will become part of your physical and mental state,” says Grandmaster Chen Man Ching (1947). To grasp the concept of Tai Chi, no amount of hurried attempts to grasp the art of Tai Chi will enable that. By allowing Tai Chi to empower the body and search for the inner chi requires patience and lots of practice. Once the inner chi has been located then can you begin achieving a harmony of body, mind and soul

Benefits

Tai Chi has many benefits. In China, people believe that Tai Chi can prolong life, strengthen muscles and tendons, and treat heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, depression, etc. Tai Chi also improves stamina. Jo Li, a Tai Chi enthusiast for the last 2 years, now in his twenties, realised recently that he is able to run for a longer period of time without becoming easily tired. Studies have shown that Tai Chi does have aerobic benefits and produces benefits in oxygen uptake and endurance.

If you think Tai Chi is just for old people or people who don’t want to do strenuous exercises, think again! It is now being recommended as another fitness option for pregnant women because it is gentle and slow-moving. Tai Chi is also beneficial for pregnant women who have never done any forms of exercise before as it reduces the chances of these women injuring themselves. Other exercises, even yoga, involve a certain amount of moving that could be a problem for pregnant women in later trimesters.

Coping with changes in body size, lifestyle and work can be stressful for a pregnant woman. This is where the mediation portion of Tai Chi kicks in. Deep breathing and helping the mind to focus on the slow repetitive movements of the breathing, provides relief to these external changes. Tai Chi also teaches patience and enhancing such a quality would be beneficial especially when the baby arrives. What can a woman be more concerned about then stability when she pregnant? A research conducted at Emory University in 1996 proved that practicing Tai Chi helped reduce the chances of falling by almost 50%.

Tai Chi not only helps mothers-to-be, but children as well. In England, Mrs. Anne D’Souza, 26, a teacher at Broad Town Church of England School in Wiltshire, has introduced her class to Tai Chi exercises before lessons. She has observed that the children, after the exercises, come into class calmer and prepared for their work. The children also respond better in class. The American Journal of Medicine and Sports lists a series of studies showing that tai chi can improve concentration, focus and performance. Mrs. D’Souza has even introduced the method to her fellow colleagues to use on their class children.

The growing vast number of people practicing Tai Chi shows its popularity and the belief people have in it. Tai Chi has spread all over the world that there is even an event called Tai Chi Day that is held on the last Saturday of April, annually. This event begun in 1999 and is now recognised by the United Nations World Health Organization and is acknowledged worldwide. Celebrations include mass Tai Chi workouts in most cities and free classes are also offered in certain clubs in the participating cities.

Singapore

Here in Singapore, the popularity of Tai Chi has caught up with people so much that a look around a heartland estate around 7 in the morning or 7 in the evening, will guarantee a show of small groups of people gathered and enthusiastically practicing Tai Chi. Usually in June and December, when schools are out for the holidays, many children can be seen joining the neighbourhood ‘aunties’ and ‘uncles’ and actively participating in Tai Chi.

Tai Chi is the route to a better life, physically and mentally. As Master Cheng Man Ching said in 1947, “Tai Chi, the great ultimate, strengthens the weak, raises the sick, invigorates the debilitated, and encourages the timid”. So don’t just sit there. Go and sign up for Tai Chi classes and work towards a healthier pattern of life!

Author:
Sangeetha Nadarajan
Writer
TheAsianParent.Com
http://www.theasianparent.com

TheAsianParent.com is a free weekly online parenting magazine targeted at educated, culturally engaged parents with children 0-6 years of age, parents-to-be, who are residing in Asia or of Asian heritage.

We aim to be the number one source of Asian parenting news, opinion, education, and entertainment. We offer our readers lots of articles, videos and pod casts that are not just credible and relevant but cutting edge, stylish and light-hearted, which readers can expect every Monday. We also offer our readers a forum where they can meet like-minded parents to communicate, commiserate and celebrate the absurdity and wonder of it all. The magazine also gathers a pool of educators, doctors and advisors who are keen in promoting the well-being of children and parents. Together, TheAsianParent acts as a platform for communication and support for parents.

general — Comments Off
23
Apr 08

Starting A New Exercise And Diet Regime

It’s about that time of year when everyone starts thinking about beginning a new exercise regime and living a healthier lifestyle, Christmas is now well over and your probably remembering your new years resolution to lose the fat, eat a healthier diet and improve your general body shape. When starting a new exercise program its important to have goals maybe you want to look good on the beach in July or just get back into the clothes that fitted you before you put on a few pounds.

In order to stay motivated its important and to stay motivated you need to have a clear and realistic Idea of what you want to achieve, what your motivations for exercise or following your new healthy eating plans are.

If you want to lose fat just cutting your calorie intake or trying some new fad diet probably won’t help you keep the fat loss you achieve and you’ll probably balloon up bigger than you were before. What you need to keep at your target weight is a regular exercise program that you can stick to long term, don’t go made for a week and then give up until next year start slowly maybe just by walking at first. By developing and using some muscle you’ll increase your metabolic rate and notice more long lasting results.

Here’s a little beginners walking plan

Walk at a steady pace while pulling your belly in for 30-45 minutes 3 or 4 times a week and then you’ll burn more fat, as your cardiovascular fitness improves you’ll be able to start running.

Try and walk on gravel or sand because that will use your muscles more and burn more calories.

Of course you don’t have to walk if you enjoy swimming or playing another sport why not try that as well or instead, just make sure you can stick to it.